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Teen Arrested For Father's Murder In Bel Air

BEL AIR, Md. (WJZ) --  A tragic confession. A Harford County teen admits he killed his father, dumped his body and then led police on a wild chase.

Monique Griego has more.

According to charging documents, it was Robert Richardson's sister who called police Monday night, claiming her brother had just shot her father.

It's a chilling crime. Investigators say 16-year-old Robert Richardson III confessed to killing his father, then dumping his lifeless body in an Aberdeen pond.

Police were called to the home along Moores Mill Road Monday night. They found blood outside but nobody inside.

"What they found had indicated that someone had more than likely been shot," said Monica Worrell, Harford County Sheriff's Office.

Police put out an APB for the teenager. Seven hours later, a trooper spotted him on the road. Richardson took off.

"He went to turn in the parking lot and didn't make it; went straight over the curb," Worrell said.

In the parking lot of the United Methodist Church, Richardson crashed his car, then took off running. Police caught him and that's when they say he confessed and told them he dumped his father's body in a pond behind his uncle's home.

"It wasn't a normal household situation. It didn't sound like it. We heard a lot of screaming," said one neighbor, who didn't want to be identified.

Neighbors tell WJZ they worried the father may be abusing the teen.

"He'd be working on something in the yard and just screaming and terrible cursing. Horribly verbally abusive," the neighbor said.

WJZ obtained police records showing a dozen calls to the home in just the past six months.

The crime has this community shaken.

"That's sick for around here. I've lived 40 years around this neighborhood," said one neighbor.

WJZ has learned Richardson is a student at C. Milton Wright High School. He will face a judge Wednesday afternoon in Harford County District Court.

Richardson is charged with first- and second-degree murder, as well as assault. He'll be charged as an adult due to the severity of the crime.

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